The present invention is directed to a bag system and associated kit, and also a related method, for storing the personal property of injured and/or ill persons, or the personal property of deceased persons, where the personal property has been removed from such persons, for instance, in an emergency vehicle (i.e., an ambulance), a hospital or a nursing home, but particularly in emergency situations, for instance in a damaged area after a hurricane has passed through the area.
The following abbreviations are employed here.
ABBREVIATIONSBCNbar code numberDOBdate of birthFflapMOmouth openingPIpersonal itemRArecordation areaRBrubber bandWLwarning labelWDwriting device
Flexible plastic storage bags are well known. Generally, the bags are made from thermoplastic film. Such plastic material is substantially fluid impermeable, relatively inexpensive, and can be manufactured in transparent form, which facilitates content identification. Typically, the bags have two side walls which are sealed (such as by heat sealing with heat sealing equipment) around the side and bottom edges, and also have a top, open mouth area, which, after insertion of an item into the bag, also can be heat sealed for closure of the bag. However, such plastic storage bags often are provided, in the region of the mouth area, with a closure member, such as an adhesive sealing area or such as mating male and female profiles, for instance, the ZIPLOC® feature (trademark originally assigned to Dow Chemical Company and subsequently assigned to S.C. Johnson Home Storage, Inc.).
More particularly, the closure member can be an adhesive area that is covered with a pull-off protective cover strip, typically of plastic, paper, and the like, so that in use when the protective cover strip is pulled off, the uncovered adhesive area can be folded over to close the bag at the bag mouth. Often, a mating surface is provided to which the uncovered adhesive area is positioned for bag closure, but the uncovered adhesive area can be simply positioned on a part of the plastic by the bag mouth in order to close the bag. As is well known, such adhesive area closure members are tamper evident, since after the bag mouth is closed, the adhesive seal cannot be opened without compromising the closed adhesive seal in one manner or another.
Alternatively, the closure member can be mating male and female profiles such as those provided under the ZIPLOC® trademark, where the male profile includes a linear tab adapted to be interlocked with a linear groove of the female profile. The male and female profiles are connected to close the bag at the bag mouth by pinching and pulling across the male and female profiles along their length, such as with the thumb and forefinger of a user or through the use of a sliding element optionally mounted to the male and female profiles. As is well known, such male profile/female profile closure members can be closed and then re-opened, and thus, such closure members for a bag mouth are not tamper evident.
Such plastic bags with a closure member at the mouth lend themselves well to storing personal property that has been removed from injured, ill, or deceased persons, and previous research and developments in the field have resulted in several methods for storing and identifying items removed from an injured, ill, or deceased person, particularly during emergency situations, many of which methods are discussed below.
For instance, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0121346 A1 to Cummings, et al., published Jun. 9, 2005, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,230 to Congdon, issued Apr. 9, 1991, each discloses a container attached to a stretcher. The injured and/or ill person is placed on the stretcher, and items removed from injured and/or ill person are placed in a plastic bag, which is then placed in the container. As shown in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0121346 A1, the plastic bag preferably has an adhesive seal, such that once items are placed in the plastic bag and the plastic bag is closed at its mouth via the adhesive seal, the adhesive seal is tamper evident should the plastic bag be re-opened.
Also of interest is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0144684 A1 to McIntee, published Jul. 29, 2004, which discloses a kit for use by rescue workers. The kit consists of a plastic bag labeled bio-hazard, a blanket for placement over a person in order to protect the person from glass during extrication of the person from a vehicle involved in a collision, gloves to be worn by the rescue worker, and a carrying case for the plastic bag, the blanket, and the gloves. After finishing use of the blanket with the injured person, the blanket and the gloves are placed inside the plastic bag.
Also of interest is U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0074245 A1 to Myhre, published Jun. 20, 2002, which discloses a multi-compartment, soft fabric bag for keeping objects, such as a shroud, needed in connection with the death of a person. The bag has a conventional zipper which is opened and once the shroud and other items are removed from the bag and used with the deceased person, the empty bag can then be used for storing the person's belongings, such as pieces of jewelry, clothing, shoes, etc., and then zippered closed.
Of background interest are UK Published Patent Application No. GB 2,115,690 A, to Kelly, published Sep. 14, 1983, and French Patent No. 2,669,305 to Gerard, published May 22, 1992. UK Published Patent Application No. GB 2,115,690 A discloses a body bag for a corpse where the bag exterior has a pouch for receiving medical records. French Patent No. 2,669,305 discloses a bag tie that has a bar code on it, where the bag tie has a pointed end that during use is inserted into an aperture located at the other end of the bag tie.
Also of background interest is U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,477 to Hamilton, et al., issued Oct. 22, 2002, which discloses an air sampling bag of expandable plastic material such as polyester, and having a tube for sampling breath intake from a person's lungs, and having an adhesive patch for sealing the bag after taking a sample of the person's breath. An outer shell, such as metal foil, is also provided to capture the air sample should the expandable bag fail.
Additionally of background interest, U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,604 to Bang, et al., issued Sep. 7, 1999, discloses a plastic bag useful for protecting luggage, which plastic bag has an adhesive closure for the bag mouth. After luggage is placed in the plastic bag and the plastic bag is closed at its mouth via the adhesive seal, the adhesive seal is tamper evident should the plastic bag be re-opened.
The disclosures of all patents and published patent applications, which are mentioned here, are incorporated by reference.